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Cornyn, right, blamed Democrats for the impasse, but several of his GOP colleagues, such as Lee, left, voted to sustain a filibuster on the energy bill. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn was mad, and he knew just whom to blame: Democrats, who were insisting on an emergency aid package for the city of Flint, Mich., to address its poisoned water system. But the truth, as it often is, was a little more complicated.

Daschle, left, and Lott worked together well for years and think it's not so far-fetched to overcome the current partisan atmosphere. (Scott J. Ferrell/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

The Senate has a reputation for being a slow-moving and conservative institution, but its recent political history is one of volatility: Since 1980, the party holding the majority has changed nine times and even had a 50-50 tie.

That might be one reason senators tend to tread carefully in considering changes to how the chamber votes, because today's procedural roadblock can become tomorrow's minority safeguard.

Cruz told the Friday rally that Republican leadership was "playing Santa Claus to the lobbyists and K Street and the special interests." (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

MECHANICSVILLE, Va. — Minutes after taking a photo with Santa Claus and wishing him well on Christmas Eve, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz turned Grinch on Republicans on Capitol Hill who backed the omnibus spending bill that cleared earlier Friday.

"Now, it's Christmastime, so it was Republican leadership playing Santa Claus to the lobbyists and K Street and the special interests, and it's why people are fed up with the Washington cartel," the Texas Republican told reporters before a packed house at the Life Church in suburban Richmond.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy cast his 15,000th vote Tuesday, joining an exclusive club in Senate history.

The Vermont Democrat's first vote came in 1975 on a resolution to establish the Church Committee. His 15,000th vote was on an amendment to cybersecurity legislation, and vote No. 15,001 came on his own amendment. In a statement, Leahy offered a long list of his most memorable votes, but it was two war votes that stood out — and provided context for the length of his tenure: "Opposing the war in Iraq, a venture that cost so many lives, and trillions of taxpayer dollars. And I was proud to be the first Vermonter to cast a vote, in the Armed Services Committee, to end the War in Vietnam."

Updated 4:57 p.m. | In a pair of losses for conservatives, the Senate voted overwhelmingly Sunday to revive the Export-Import Bank while failing to overcome a filibuster of an attempt to repeal Obamacare — with more fireworks to come.

The rare Sunday votes set the stage for the Senate to send a long-term highway bill tied to the Ex-Im Bank to the House later this week, but not before facing other gambits by conservatives, including a procedural vote forced by Sen. Ted Cruz regarding the Iran deal and an effort to deploy a maneuver akin to the "nuclear option." The Senate quickly adjourned for the night after holding the series of votes. The Obamacare repeal failed 49-43, well shy of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster and attach the repeal to the bill aimed at avoiding a highway program shutdown at the end of July.